Showbiz Experts: Jill Kirsh - Marketing4Actors

Jill Kirsh is Hollywood’s Guru of Hue. Her unique color system has been the talk of the fashion world for the past five years. She’s been featured several times in InStyle Magazine, Inc.magazine, Backstage, RedBook, the Los Angeles Times and on every major network and numerous local news affiliates including HGTV, Hallmark and Soapnet, plus myriad websites like AOL, BeautyRiot, Shopafrolic and more. She was named Best Color Consultant in the Best of LA issue of Los Angeles magazine and is frequently called upon by celebrities and savvy business leaders for color coaching. In addition, Jill is featured as the Color Expert on the iPad App for the hit movie Divergent.

The casting world of today is so different than 10 years ago since most submissions are done online (and pictures are in color). How can an actor use color to stand out from the hundreds of other actors on the computer screen?

Jill Kirsh:

With online casting, the CD puts in the info of what they’re looking for and an entire screen comes up filed with thumbnails of actors who fit that description. You want to be the one that pops so the CD will click on your shot to blow it up. You can absolutely do this with color. And it addition to your wardrobe, the color you’re standing against, your backdrop, is equally as important as what you’re wearing. Everything in a color photo grabs focus. As an actor, you want the shot to be about you, your eyes, your smile, and not about the color of your tie or the color on your lips.

Audition clothes are crucial to an actor’s marketing toolkit yet most actors are so busy prepping for the audition that their clothes are the last thing they think about. How can color help an actor in an audition?

Jill Kirsh:

Knowing and wearing your best shades of every color for an audition gives you the confidence of knowing you are look your absolute best so you don’t be introverted thinking about that and your attention can be on what you’re there to do – share your work and nail the audition!

Without giving away all your A-list secrets, are there some basic color guidelines that actors can follow when choosing colors for their headshots and audition clothes?

Jill Kirsh:

My color system is entirely based on ones present hair color – deep brunette, red, gray, warm blonde, golden brown, ash blonde. What I’ve experienced from being on camera myself, as an actor and as a color expert, is that when the camera comes in close, your hair is what frames your face – your eyes, your smile – and you have to work it to pull everything together. Otherwise, everything in the image is very distracting and fragmented and the casting director needs to get thru all that to find you!

I’ve created a customized wallet size swatch book that’s filled with pieces of fabric of all your best shades of every color. You use this as a guide for shopping for your entire wardrobe. In addition to these all being your best shades, every color in your swatch book coordinates with each other so you get an entire wardrobe that totally rocks. I’ve also developed a mineral based makeup kit that contains all your best shades for the eyes, cheeks & lips.

One of the things I love about working with actors, in addition to showing them all their best shades of every color to look fabulous in their head shots, auditions, on the red carpet, in selfies and beyond, is to also show them how color can be used as a tool for creating or extending a character over the arc of a story – to look older, beaten down, going from being down & out to hugely successful, etc. I love sharing my color system with performers because truly, this is something every actor needs to know for their craft and for branding themselves. It’s an amazing tool for building their websites and for all of their marketing materials. It should be part of Marketing Yourself 101!

So many actors are creating their own web series or theatre companies these days. Many of their projects are low-budget and hiring a team of makeup, hair or wardrobe is just not possible. Can knowing your colors help improve the quality of a DIY project?

Jill Kirsh:

If you’re on a low budget/no budget project, this tech is invaluable! If your entire cast uses all their best shades for wardrobe & makeup, each actor will exude a certain presence, command their space and totally pop on camera. I’ve shared my color system with film crews and theater pros who have incorporated it into their work.

.

I’m sure some of my male readers think a color consultant is just for the ladies. Do the same color concepts apply to guys?

Jill Kirsh:

As I said to Mario Lopez and Danny Bonaduce on NBC’s The Other Half when asked “Is this colors thing just a girl thing,” “It is SO not a girl thing!” I then proceeded to show them their best shades of color and they totally got it. They were hooked. I consult with an enormous number of men from all professions, but especially actors.

I’m sure most of my readers haven’t worked with a Color Consultant before. Can you explain your process of working with actors? Do you work in person or online? Do you help actors with their wardrobe for headshots?

There are two ways I work with actors:

#1 – In person one-on-one color, makeup and wardrobe consultations in the privacy of their home, studio or office. A one-on-one in person consultation takes about two hours. I bring a huge mirror surrounded with light that duplicates daylight. You sit in from of the mirror, totally clean face, and I drape you in different shades of every color and then drop each one down so you get to have the major “ah ha” moment. And by all accounts, it’s pretty major! It’s amazing that one shade of a color will pull focus up to your face and make you look vivid, angular, younger, thinner and more alive where a different shade of the same color will make you look flat, broader, tired, washed out and dull. After we determine all your best hues, I do a very natural makeup showing you all your best shades for the eyes, cheeks & lips. Then I coordinate all your colors, meaning I have large pieces of fabric of every shade of every color in your palette and show you not only will all these colors make you look your absolute best, but every color coordinates with each other, so eventually your entire wardrobe will totally rock.

We also go over headshots and websites and discuss bringing your color palette into your online branding. We can also look at some of your existing wardrobe, although my clients can actually do that on their own by using their customized wallet size Swatch Book that’s filled with pieces of fabric of all the shades that we chose for them during our session. You use the Swatch Book as a guide for shopping for everything – tees, party dresses, nail color, stilettos, polos, suits, ties, watch bands etc! The makeup I use in the session is from my customized mineral based fragrance free Makeup Kits that contains all your best shades of every color for the eyes, cheeks & lips.

#2 – I also do online consultations where the actor sends me quite a few recent photos along with their website and any additional head shots. The online session lasts about an hour. We jump on the phone with each other while I’m looking at their photos. We talk wardrobe, makeup shades and background colors. The last actress I worked with online had a photo shoot coming up soon after our session so we went to her photographer’s website and looked thru all the background colors he had so she could tell him which ones she wanted to use. Since the background in a color headshot is equally as important as your wardrobe in regard to enhancing your image rather than being a distraction, you need to choose the best shades. I sent her a Swatch Book and Makeup Kit, she went shopping and bought lots of tops in her colors, used the makeup in the shoot and chose the background colors we discussed. She sent me her new headshots and they were absolutely off the charts fabulous!

I love sharing my color system with actors because I love actors and because this tech is something every performer needs to know. It’s an essential component of marketing yourself and your online branding.

Thank you Jill for sharing your time and knowledge with us today!

If you use the code color10 you will get 10% everything on Jill’s site as well as one-on-one & online consultations. To connect with Jill or to find out more about her fantastic work…

Website: JillKirshColor.com

Twitter: @JillKirshColor

Phone: 1-800-953-4147

Email: jill@jillkirshcolor.com

Until Soon,

Heidi Dean

The casting world of today is so different than 10 years ago since most submissions are done online (and pictures are in color). How can an actor use color to stand out from the hundreds of other actors on the computer screen?

Jill Kirsh:

Audition clothes are crucial to an actor’s marketing toolkit yet most actors are so busy prepping for the audition that their clothes are the last thing they think about. How can color help an actor in an audition?

Jill Kirsh:

Without giving away all your A-list secrets, are there some basic color guidelines that actors can follow when choosing colors for their headshots and audition clothes?

Jill Kirsh:

So many actors are creating their own web series or theatre companies these days. Many of their projects are low-budget and hiring a team of makeup, hair or wardrobe is just not possible. Can knowing your colors help improve the quality of a DIY project?

Jill Kirsh:

.

I’m sure some of my male readers think a color consultant is just for the ladies. Do the same color concepts apply to guys?

Jill Kirsh:

I’m sure most of my readers haven’t worked with a Color Consultant before. Can you explain your process of working with actors? Do you work in person or online? Do you help actors with their wardrobe for headshots?

Thank you Jill for sharing your time and knowledge with us today!

Leave a Reply